The introductory phone call was made on the Fourth of July, but it did not include any fireworks.

Brad Stevens, less than 24 hours after being named head coach of the Celtics, dialed up point guard and team leader Rajon Rondo, who can be difficult to deal with at times, for the first conversation of their partnership on Thursday.

Judging by Stevens’ reaction to the call, he has a good feeling that dealing with Rondo will not be a problem as he oversees the rebuilding of the Celtics.

“There is no bigger fan of Rajon Rondo than me,’’ said Stevens during his welcome-to-the-Celtics press conference on Friday. “I think the way he plays, his instincts, the ability to make other people better, he sees plays ahead of the play.

“He is an incredibly, incredibly talented person and every one I’ve talked to has just raved about how intellectual he is and how great he is. I’m looking forward to meeting him. I can’t wait.

“I talked to him on the phone and I’m looking forward to sitting down with him and talking ball. He was great. He was really good. I told him exactly what I just said. I have so much respect for how he sees the basketball court, how he plays the game, his instinctual feel and his intelligence. I’m looking forward to sitting down and learning from him.’’

The 36-year-old Stevens will be making his NBA debut when the Celtics open the season in the fall, and there has been concern about how the tempermental Rondo will react to the entire situation now that the team is in transition.

Rondo has his ups and downs with NBA veteran Doc Rivers in their seven years together and has rubbed teammates the wrong way at times.

Stevens has certainly heard about Rondo’s reputation, but he said there is no concern on his part.

“Not worried about reputation,’’ said Stevens, who hopes to travel to Kentucky to sit down with Rondo this summer. “Hey, I’ve heard a lot of things about a lot of people over the course of time and then you sit down with them and everything clicks. I can’t wait to meet him.

“Combine (Rondo’s skills) with a good, competitive spirit and you’ve really got what he’s been, and that’s a really, really good player, one of the best players in this league. I can’t wait to spend time with him. I hope he can feel like at the end of the day, he’s learned a thing or two from me, but I’m guessing I’ll learn a lot more from him.’’

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge downplayed Rondo being a problem, laughing when he was called the “elephant in the room’’ by a reporter.

Page 2 of 2 - “I think Brad and Rondo will get along great,’’ said Ainge. “Brad is a great communicator and Rajon is a brilliant basketball player. I think they’ll see eye-to-eye.

“We always talk about Rajon, you call him the elephant in the room. Rajon has been our best player for the last few years and is the reason why we’ve had so much success at times in the playoffs.

“I think communication will be a key between those two and I think that Brad, being a new coach in the NBA, will need to rely on Rondo for input, strategy and get his feedback.’’

Stevens met guard Avery Bradley prior to his press conference and said he had been in contact with the rest of the Celtics via text or phone calls the past two days.

“I’ve seen a lot of these guys play as they were growing up,’’ said Stevens. “Courtney Lee is an Indianapolis kid who grew up five minutes away. The response from them has really been kind and really good. I’m looking forward to working with them.’’